


Can you dance?

by cantthinkanuffin



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:08:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21923440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cantthinkanuffin/pseuds/cantthinkanuffin
Summary: Two guys walk into a beachfront cafe...I don't own the characters, I'm just taking them out to breakfast.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo
Comments: 7
Kudos: 30





	Can you dance?

“I'm tellin' ya, chicks love guys that dance. Like the other day, I'm on the beach right there,” Poe waves over the wall separating the cafe from the beach, “and this girl is sitting on the wall listening to music, and I show her some of my moves. So then she asks me if I can dance.” Poe elbows Ben in the ribs, causing Ben to raise an eyebrow at him.

From what Poe's just said, it sounds like maybe he missed the point of her statement, but, “This is where I'm supposed to ask what you answered, isn't it?” Ben already knows. Poe would have said something witty or clever, and the girl in question would have gone home with him without a look back.

“Well, yeah, of course that's what you're meant to do. So whaddaya think happens? I turn on the ol' Dameron charm, and she...”

Ben never gets to hear Poe's version, because the girl in question has just appeared beside their table, order pad in hand. “...shoots you down in flames.” One eyebrow rises toward her hairline as her hands settle on denim-clad hips, pencil suddenly looking like some sort of deadly weapon.

Poe looks very sheepish. “Yeah, uh, yeah. Of course that's what I was gonna say.” He sighs, rubbing his palms on his thighs and looking down at the menu on the table like he hasn't already decided what he wants to order. “Hey, look, they've got poached egg on avocado toast.”

Ben looks from one to the other of them, grinning at Poe's discomfiture and rising to his feet. He sticks his hand out to the waitress. “Ben Solo. And I'd like to shake the hand of anyone who can beat Poe Dameron at his own game.”

She grins in reply, extending her own hand. “Rey Kanata. Pleased to meet you, Ben Solo.” He just about dies at hearing her accent.

The electricity that passes between them when they shake hands is palpable, and leaves them staring slack-jawed at each other. She recovers first. “Uhhh...so what would you like?” She can't tear her eyes off Ben, who seems equally stricken.

This time it's Poe's turn to look from one to the other. “Poached egg on avocado sourdough toast and a sunrise smoothie, please.” When neither Ben nor Rey responds, Poe waves his hand in front of Ben's face, snapping his fingers. “Hey, Solo, you in there?”

“Huh? Oh.” He glares at Poe, and the spell is broken. “Blueberry pancakes and the largest coffee you've got, please.” Ben has a weakness for coffee, and the coffee at Maz's Cafe is meant to be stellar. He carefully hands his menu to Rey before settling back into the not-quite-large-enough chair.

Rey repeats their order back before turning and making a move toward the kitchen. Poe waits until she's disappeared before speaking because he realizes quickly that Ben is going to be fully focused on her retreat from their table until he can no longer see her. “Wow, Solo, you've had it. You're a total goner.”

Ben's face flushes red to the tips of his ears, just visible protruding from his deliberately long hair. He coughs to cover his embarrassment. “No, I'm not.” He face-palms at his own lack of wit, leaning forward uncomfortably to rest his head on the table. “Just pretend I'm not here.”

“But then who will I give this stein of coffee to?”

Ben sits up faster than someone his size should be able to react, almost impacting his head on the giant mug in Rey's hand. He feels the heat rising in his face again, just as he hears the undignified snort of laughter from Poe. He's never going to hear the end of this. Ben answers, “Thanks,” in a very small voice, reaching gingerly to take the mug from her and taking a sip. The coffee is as good as he's been led to believe.

She gifts him with a beaming smile and an, “Anytime,” in reply before disappearing into the kitchen again.

“Not a goner, huh? Tell me another one.” Poe is not about to let this rest. He's known Ben Solo since elementary school, and has never seen his friend like this before. Well, except... “Y'know, this reminds me of third grade, when you had a crush on the teacher...what was her name?”

“Miss Holdo. Now shut up.” He cringes inwardly at the mention of his crush on their lilac-haired teacher. She'd been very nice to his weedy eight-year-old self.

Poe doesn't take the hint. “Yeah...that's the one. You wouldn't even speak that whole year, you were so smitten.”

Ben leans forward, placing his elbows on the table and rubbing his forehead with his fingertips. He glances around, hoping that the other patrons haven't noticed how unbelievably well he's embarrassing himself. No one seems to have taken any note. Except Poe, who's grinning like the cat that caught the proverbial canary and thumbing the screen of his smartphone at a rate that lets Ben know he's posting something to one of his many social media accounts.

Ben cringes as he hears notifications start coming up on his own phone. He swipes up to unlock the screen and discovers that Poe has sent a photo of him - beet red, staring open-mouthed at Rey and the stein of coffee, with the comment 'Smitten?' – to the Whatsapp group they've set up at work. And, despite the relatively early hour on a weekend, it seems that everyone is awake and has an opinion. He should just resign now. He groans, just as Rey reappears with their breakfast.

She gives him a funny look and sets his plate on the table with the warning, “Careful, it's hot.”

Poe can't restrain himself. He bursts out laughing and gleefully all but shrieks, “You don't know the half of it!”

Realizing that she hasn't a hope of getting a reasonable response from Poe, she turns to Ben, raising that eyebrow again. He sighs, covers his face with his hand, and shows her the photo – and all the responses.

He feels the weight of the phone leave his grip, looks up to see her smiling to herself as she reads the comments. She thumbs the screen, obviously typing something, and hands the phone back to him. He's surprised to see it's on the contacts page. 

She nods at it. “That's me. I'm working today until 4, but if you come back at 3.30, mom will give you a coffee on the house while you wait for me. I'll let her know you'll be back.” She saunters off to the kitchen again, leaving a shocked Poe and an even more shocked Ben in her wake.

Ben finally recovers enough to speak several seconds after she disappears. “So tell me again why I should learn to dance?”

**Author's Note:**

> A story inspired by a line from a song. And my own weakness for coffee.
> 
> I said I'd try to get something upbeat posted after my last one...this is even fluffier than I was intending. Perhaps I'll find the middle ground one day.


End file.
